


Net Profit

by blakefancier, Willa Shakespeare (AnonEhouse)



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, POV Alternating, merman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-30
Updated: 2012-10-30
Packaged: 2017-11-17 09:34:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/550146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blakefancier/pseuds/blakefancier, https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/Willa%20Shakespeare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fisherman Blake finds a merman in his net, and takes him home to recuperate. Merman Avon is curious about many things, including human sexuality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Net Profit

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was an RPG where blakefancier was Blake, and I was Avon. I tidied it up and smoothed it out into fic but was too lazy to change the excessive use of names at the beginning of each comment.

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

He was greedy. He watched as the purse net slowly gathered at the bottom. Fish were stupid, they'd keep trying to escape from the top, but he could swim in, gather the best of the lot for himself and swim out underneath, leaving the surface fisherman none the wiser that h'ed been once more robbed.

All would have gone well, if he hadn't been vain as well as greedy. He had a fat lobster in either hand and was heading back when a frantic baby swordfish got tangled in his long, triple strand of pearl necklace. He released the lobsters and flapped his flukes desperately, but the weight of the swordfish slowed him down too much, and the net closed before he could reach it.

***

Blake quickly brought up the net, using the machinery he devised to help him with it. Once out of the water, he lowered the net to the deck, poised to start culling his catch.

His captive clawed his way desperately towards the edge of the net, pushing wildly flapping fish out of his way. If he could get his bone knife to saw through the tough cord, he could leap out into the ocean.

Blake opened the net, then stopped and stared at the... man? Was that a man?

The merman flipped onto his back, held up his knife, bared his teeth and prepared to fight for his life. If he had time to dry out and grow legs, he would have had a chance. As it was... well, the man would have scars to remember him by.

Blake took a few steps back, his hands up to show he was weaponless. "Are... are you all right?"

The merman jerked his necklace free of the suffocating swordfish, and threw it at the fisherman. "Take that, man... and... let me go."

Blake caught the necklace and blinked in confusion. "I'm not... I haven't captured you. Of course you're free to go."

Warily the merman crawled towards the side of the net, not really believing the man, but having nothing to lose by continuing to escape. The dying swordfish flipped and ran its beak through his thigh. He screamed.

Blake cried out, rushed forward, and pulled out the swordfish. Then he placed his hand on the merman's tail, trying to stop the blood. "Don't move, please don't move. It's all right. Everything will be fine."

The merman's tail convulsed in reflex, and the blood spurted, thick and startlingly red against the pale green of his scales. He cried out again.

Blake stripped off his shirt, bunched it up and placed it against the wound. "We have to keep your tail from moving."

The merman gritted his teeth for a moment. He was getting dizzy. "Get me dry, man." He sank back to the deck and swallowed against nausea. Wonderful... on top of everything else... he was becoming _seasick_. That never happened while swimming.

Blake nodded. "All right. I have a blanket. Hold this, we need to stop you from bleeding." Blake rushed over to the other side of the boat to grab a dry blanket.

The merman ruthlessly shoved the cloth against his wound, silently cursing himself for having got into this fix. Even if he could get away now, the blood trail would lead sharks to him in schools.

Blake rushed back to the merman and began to briskly rub his body. He was quite beautiful.

The merman winced as he felt the internal changes beginning as he dried. It had never hurt this much before... but then, he'd never had a bloody great hole jabbed in him at the time.

Blake looked alarmed. "I'm sorry! Am I hurting you?"

"No." Reluctantly, the merman admitted, "It's not your fault, man." He winced again as the muscles and bone shifted around the wound. " just..." Black humor bubbled up in him. "...getting my land-legs."

"My name's Roj." Blake frowned "What do you mean, 'you're getting your land-legs'?"

"Roj. How do you think... I learned your speech?" The merman held his breath as his flukes began to be absorbed. "We can... walk among men. It's dangerous, and not many feel it is worth the effort... but... I like a challenge."

"You... you're becoming human!" Blake reached out and touched the merman's hip.

"Don't be insulting." The merman wriggled in discomfort as the decking was putting splinters into his now scaleless backside. He looked down at himself and sighed. He found an external penis a nuisance.

Blake placed the blanket over the merman. "I need to look at your... leg. Is that all right?"  
   
The merman looked at Blake suspiciously. "Why? Either it will heal, or I'll die. -- Unless you're a magician... I've heard some humans can heal wounds."

Blake smiled. "I'm not a magician, but I do know first aid. I could help your wound to heal. If you'll let me."

"First aid?" The merman was still puzzled and wary, but under the circumstances... "Show me." He flipped off the blanket, which was rather coarse and itchy, anyway.

"I have medicines at home. Things that will help speed your recovery. But first we must put a bandage around the wound." Blake retrieved his now bloody shirt, ripped it into strips and wrapped the merman's leg. "I don't know your name."  
   
The merman watched the man's hands intently. "Bandage..." He looked up at Blake. "My name -- you couldn't say it. It means, 'Swift-moving water that parts the land'. Do you have a word for that in your tongue?"

Blake smiled. "There is a word, in my mother's language. Avon." He slid his hand down Avon's leg. "There, that should help with the bleeding. I can do more once we're on land."

Avon nodded. "Avon. Yes, that will do." He moved his leg tentatively. "I could help with the fish." 

"Don't move. I don't want you to start bleeding again. I'll be quick, then we can head in." Blake bent to weed out the too small or inedible fish.

Avon was bored. There was always something to do under the sea. He settled as comfortably as he could and watched Blake sort through the fish. For a man, Blake was well-formed. A little too broad in the chest to make a fast swimmer, perhaps. 

Blake finished sorting through the fish; he could feel the prickle of a light sunburn along his shoulders. He looked up at Avon and grinned. He still couldn't believe he had found a merman! "It's not a great catch, but it'll feed us for a few days while you heal, and the rest can go to market."

Avon nodded. "I've heard you people value pearls. Will the necklace pay for your help?"

Blake glanced at the pearls Avon had given to him. "Oh, yes. That would more than pay for it. But you don't... I don't require payment." He started up the motor, hoping that it had enough fuel to get them home. Normally he would have sailed most of the way, and just used the engine for the final docking, but he had a wounded merman to care for.

"Food is harder to find on land." Avon watched the waves move from a new perspective. He'd never been on a boat before. "Everyone has to pay for it. I have seen that." 

"It's not that it's more difficult. It just..." Blake sighed and decided not to try to explain. "Never mind. Thank you for the pearls." 

Avon decided not to tell Blake that to his people pearls were just the hard bits of rubbish that hurt your teeth when you ate a shellfish. The only reason Avon had bothered to make the necklace was because he thought it contrasted well with his hair. "Do you have a house?"

"Yes. It's very small. But I have my own dock! And it's isolated, if you're worried about other humans."

"You stay in this house? You don't ever just... go? Not even when the fishing is bad?"

"No, of course don't leave. I worked very hard for my bit of land. -- Well, there are times when I go out with some of the other men to fish the deeper seas."

"But you always return to the same place? How odd..." Avon idly picked up a small fish and ate it, head first, neatly biting off the fins and spitting them out. "I was born on a land of ice, but before I could speak my mother and I had swum to the warm waters, following the fish." 

Blake grimaced, looking away from Avon's 'snack'. "There are some people who do the same. But I'm happy to stay where I am." As they got closer to his dock, Blake slowed the engine. "Do you spend much time among us?"

Avon observed the land approaching. It looked different this way, too, almost as if it was a big and important as the ocean, which was ridiculous. "Yes. I find your people... interesting. So many strange ideas, like keeping animals and growing plants. And... work. It seems many of your people do nothing except work for others. Why is that?"

"In order to buy food and clothing for their families. Some of them even have to pay for their shelter." Once they reached the dock, Blake turned off the idling motor, jumped out of the boat, and tied it up. "We should get you up to the house first, then I'll come back for the fish. Can you stand?"

"Stand. I think so." The boat was rocking slightly against the dock, and Avon was once again feeling slightly ill. He wondered if eating the little fish was a mistake. He pulled himself up with the aid of a rope dangling from some part of the ship, and stood, ignoring the shooting pain as he tried to remember how to balance upright. "Clothing." Avon looked down at himself. "Will I need clothing?"

"Eventually." Blake offered Avon a hand up.

Avon took Blake's hand, and limped to the side of the boat. "I remember people seemed to think it important that I have clothes... particularly if there were females around."

"Oh, well, yes. That is important. But there aren't any people around here." Blake smiled. "I'm a bit of a hermit."

"A hermit?" Avon stumbled slightly, and caught himself by putting a hand on Blake's shoulder. "A crab?"

Blake grinned. "No." He put his arm around Avon's waist. "A hermit is someone who... who lives alone. Who keeps contact with other humans to a minimum."

"Oh." Avon leaned against Blake and made it to the dock, which was at least not rocking. "My people are usually alone. Except during breeding season, of course."

Blake slowly began to walk toward the house, supporting Avon. "Your people have a breeding season? How often?"

Avon shrugged. "Whenever it is, it is. We just know." Avon glanced down at his penis. "I don't think my land-form has a season. How could I tell?"

"No, no, humans don't have a breeding season. We have sex whenever we feel like it."

Avon blinked. "Then how do you ever get all that work done? If my people could have sex whenever they felt like it, we'd never do anything else." Avon looked at Blake. "Would you like to have sex now?"

Blake blinked; he was momentarily speechless. "Well... you... Wha... You're injured and I need to put the fish on ice."

Avon looked mildly disappointed. "Yes, all right." When he wasn't thinking about it, his leg hurt less, and he'd always found sex wonderfully distracting. But at the moment he had to agree that Roj was right. "But you will tell me when you think I'm ready for it, won't you?"

'Y-yes. Of course." Blake, extremely flustered, walked a bit faster.

Avon kept looking around. While he had spent far more time on land than most of his people there were still new things to interest him. He saw a thatched roof cottage not far ahead of them. "That is your house?"

"Yes, that's it. It's not very big and there are no rooms, other than the bathroom. But it's mine."

"Bathroom?" Avon paused to watch a bird for a moment. Not like a fish, but the movement was similar. It had strange fins.  
   
"It's where humans bathe and... expel their waste."

"Ah." Avon was puzzled by the need of a specific place for either activity. He looked at Blake's face. "Your skin is becoming red. In my people that usually indicates the onset of breeding readiness. What does it mean with men?"  
   
"It could mean many things; it depends on the circumstances. Right now I'm... embarrassed."

"Ah." The word was meaningless to him, so Avon filed it away with the rest of the things he didn't understand about men. Maybe when he had enough of them, he could compare them and figure them out. "How did your house get there?" 

"What do you mean? I built it myself."

Avon blinked. "I thought perhaps they grew. Like -- seashells, only bigger. And then somehow were moved when they were big enough." He looked at Blake with new respect. "And did you build your boat, too?"

"No, I didn't build it. But I did a lot of the work on it." Blake grinned. "Ah, here we are." He opened the door and ushered Avon in.

Avon's leg was beginning to be quite annoying. Walking was always much harder work than swimming, even without a hole in his leg. Avon recognized a chair, having often seen them outside of pubs, but he was not sure what most of the other objects were. "You have so many things."

"Do I? I suppose I do." Blake led Avon to the bed. "Here. Lie down, get off that leg. Is it hurting you?"

"Yes." Avon lay down on the bed gratefully. It was not as comfortable as floating, but it was a definite improvement on walking. "Thank you." 

"You're welcome. Why don't you rest for a bit? I have to get the fish into the freezer. I won't be long." Blake hurried out the door, grabbed his fish cart and headed to the boat.

Avon looked around carefully, and didn't see any predators, so he closed his eyelids and dozed off. 

It took Blake the better part of an hour to finish packing the fish in his freezer. He brought the swordfish into the house, placing it on the cutting board for dinner. Then he gathered bandages, a bowl of warm water, and a clean washcloth and sat on the bed next to Avon.

Avon felt the vibration and interpreted it in his sleep as a large fish approaching him. He opened his eyes. "Roj." 

Blake smiled. "Hello. I'm going to unwrap the bandage and clean your wound. Let me know if I'm hurting you." He unbandaged the wound and gently washed the blood and crusted salt away.

Avon blinked and watched intently. "This makes it heal?"

"It helps. If we didn't clean it, it could become infected. That... that is why people die from wounds. That or blood loss. Once it's clean, I have a salve that will lessen the pain. Then I'll bandage it again."

"Usually if one of us is wounded the sharks get us. Unless there is land nearby. You don't have any animals that eat men?"

"We do. But we also have weapons to drive them away. Don't you protect the wounded?"

"If there is someone near enough to help, yes, we would try even though we have few weapons. How would we carry them? A knife on a cord is all most of us have. But the ocean is wide, and we do not swim in schools. Breeding females might, but not always."

"How very strange. Or perhaps it only seems strange to me because human are such social creatures."  
   
"Yes, your kind does seem to school in large numbers." Avon looked thoughtful. "But you aren't in a school, why is that?"

Blake did not respond immediately. First he finished washing the wound, then retrieved a salve from his nightstand. "Tell me if I hurt you too badly." He began to gently apply the salve. "I am not in a school because I'm... I suppose I'm tired."

"Ah." Avon looked at Blake, puzzled. As far as he could tell, the man was in very good physical condition. "And when your people are tired, they prefer to be alone?"

"Something like that." Blake concentrated on the wound. "It's more than just physical exhaustion, though. I'm tired mentally, emotionally."

Avon blinked. Blake was showing him so many new and puzzling concepts that he was having difficulty processing them all- even the ones he thought he understood. "Am I interfering with your rest? Even among my own people, they say I ask too many questions."  
   
Blake smiled. "No, it's fine. You're fine." Blake set aside the salve, carefully bent Avon's knee slightly, and began to bandage his wound. 

Avon smiled. "Good." He reached down to touch Blake's hair.  
   
Blake finished bandaging Avon, then looked up, slightly puzzled by the merman's obvious fascination with his hair. "Do you have children?"

"Possibly." Avon continued stroking Blake's hair. "None of my people have hair like this. It's quite beautiful."

Blake blinked. "Thank you. -- Hair like _what_?"  
   
"Like.. kelp... no, anemone?" Avon tugged a curl straight, and watched, fascinated as it rebounded. "It's all... curves... so soft... and so stubborn." He grinned.

"You like my curls?" Blake laughed. "None of your people have curls?"

"No. Well... except down here..." Avon put a hand to his crotch. "When we're in our land-forms. And it's not half as soft. See for yourself."

Blake blushed. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"It wouldn't? Why not? You didn't mind touching my leg." Avon looked at Blake, hoping for a logical explanation.  
       
Blake stood and put away the spare bandages and salve. "Because you're injured. And because... our ways are different."

Avon blinked again trying to make sense of it. It was no use. Because Avon was injured Blake couldn't touch him where he wasn't injured. "If you say so."

Blake came back to the bed and felt Avon's forehead and cheeks for fever. Avon didn't feel warm, but that was by human standards. "Are you thirsty? Do your people require water to drink?"

"Yes, when I'm like this." Avon carefully refrained from pointing at any part of himself, not quite sure which was acceptable. "I think we can eat almost anything you do... but I don't like  the green stuff that grows in leafy balls. Cribbage?" 

"Crib-- Oh, you mean cabbage. Don't worry, I'm not fond of cabbage, either." Blake fetched Avon a glass of water from the sink. "I thought we could have our revenge on that swordfish and have it tonight?"

Avon grinned and accepted the glass, fumbling only a little- he'd had practise with ale mugs. "I like swordfish." 

"Good. Is there anything else you need?"

"No." Avon smiled at Blake. "You've been very generous to me." 

"Well, it is my fault that you're here. You did get caught in _my_ net."

"Yes." Avon decided that Blake didn't really need to know he was robbing the net at the time, not that Avon felt guilty about it. "Perhaps I could assist you, once I've recovered. It's easy for me to find fish."

Blake was surprised at the offer. "Of course, I can use all the help I can get. But wouldn't you rather do merman things?"

"Merman things?" Avon scratched at the edge of the bandage. It was beginning to itch, which meant it was healing. "We swim and find food. I'd be swimming and finding food."

"Don't do that." Blake brushed away Avon's hand. "Is that all you do? Swim, look for food, and mate?"

"No, of course not. We think and we talk. Sound is different under the water. For..." Avon has no real concept of distances. "... well, far away, we can talk to each other. We sing. We talk about things we've seen and done, we create problems and we solve them. When one of us dies... we sing them to rest." Avon thought about it. "It gets very noisy sometimes. That's part of the reason I spend so much time on land, because I want to think about things by myself and find answers no one else has."  
   
"That sounds amazing.-- I've spoken with other fisherman, they have stories about mermaids and merman. They say your songs are the most beautiful sounds in the world."

Avon smiled. "If you promise not to jump in the ocean and drown, I'll sing for you next time I swim."

Blake looked very serious; he remembered those stories as well. "Is that a problem? Humans hearing your songs and drowning?"

 "It does happen." Avon frowned. "I don't believe any of my people ever did it deliberately, but it's possible. Some of us have reason to hate your people."

When Avon frowned, Blake felt his belly tighten with sadness. He reached out and tried to stroke away the frown-lines. "Some of us have tried to hurt your people."

"Yes." Avon sighed. "Do you ever eat us?"

"What?! No, of course not!" Blake took a deep breath. "But some of us may have enslaved a few of you -- sold a mermaid or merman as a curiosity."

"Yes." Avon picked at the edge of the bandage again. "Sometimes we hear them sing." Avon looked up at Blake. 

Blake rested his palm against Avon's cheek. He said softly, "I'm sorry. If I could free them, I would."

"It wouldn't matter by now." Avon shook his head, and said quietly, "They're all mad. They live in the songs- they're beautiful songs, ones it's not safe to listen to for very long, not even for us. Not being able to move freely..." Avon shuddered. "But in their songs, they are freer than any of us. They fly between the stars."

Blake's reply was even softer, "I'm sorry." He leaned over and kissed Avon gently on the mouth.  Avon opened his mouth to Blake, his hands going up to stroke his hair. Blake sighed and slipped his tongue into Avon's mouth. Avon moved his head, and sucked on Blake's tongue. Blake slid his hand down to Avon's chest and stroked his nipples.  
   
Avon  had never done it in this form. He was pleased to feel that things were working quite well below, and faster than normal, as his genitals didn't have to emerge from hiding. Perhaps there were a few advantages to an external penis. He tugged at Blake, wanting to feel pressure against him. It was not the same as diving entwined with a lover, but quite nice, in its own way.

Blake kissed him harder and straddled Avon's waist.

Avon moaned, and spread his legs. His vent wasn't in the same place in this body... he wondered if men could fit together the way mermen could?  
   
Blake kissed Avon's chin, then across his neck. Avon arched up against Blake, wriggling and moaning. Blake kissed Avon's shoulder, then began to lick and suck his nipples.

Avon  was beginning to realize that Blake's clothes were in the way. He fumbled at them, trying to work out what held them together.

Blake nipped gently at Avon's right nipple. He slid back slightly so that he could rub against Avon's cock.  
   
_Ah!_ The round things slipped through slits in the shirt! Avon excitedly took advantage of his discovery. Blake moaned, reached between them, and stroked Avon gently.

Avon gasped, then pushed upward. He was desperate now to get the rest of Blake's clothing off. Another round thing on the trousers surrendered, and Avon found a convenient flap covering a promisingly large, hard, bulge. He slid a hand in, like teasing a moray eel out of a crevice in coral, and emerged with his catch.

Blake thrust against Avon and kissed him again. He continued to stroke Avon's cock. "I want... May I... please?"

"Yes! Anything!" Avon was frustrated by his ignorance. His body was telling him this was good, but not how to make it better.

Blake took a deep breath and pulled away. He stood, shakily, and began to undress. "Lay on your side; I don't want to hurt your leg. Have you done this before?"

"Not... just like this, but with my people, yes." Avon didn't bother to explain that in the mating frenzy the bigger males usually took all the females and left the smaller males to... improvise. He grinned and laid on his side. Yes, one leg forward.. that should do. 

Blake smiled and finished undressing. Then he retrieved the salve and slid back into bed, spooning Avon from behind. He scooped up some of the salve onto his fingers and rubbed Avon's hole. "Mmm.. ." Avon arched his back, and instinctively tried to flipper closer to Blake, but the result was a leg quiver.  
   
Blake nuzzled the back of Avon's neck and began pushing a finger in. "Is this all right?"

Avon breathed faster. "Yes! Please!" His penis was damp against his belly and he put a hand down to touch the moisture. Odd, that. He supposed it did that when he mated with mers, too, but he couldn't tell it from the surrounding water. 

Blake slipped in a second finger and began stretching him. "Is this how you do it with other mermen?"

Avon half closed his eyes and moaned. "Like this... yes..." Avon was sure there were details of difference, but he didn't care to think about them right now.

Blake searched for that little bump that would give Avon the most pleasure, hoping Avon had one, and when he found it, he grazed it gently.

Avon gasped and pushed back against Blake.

Blake nipped the back of Avon's neck. "Did you like that?"

"Yes!' Avon flopped against the bed trying to get even closer to Blake.

Blake chuckled and rubbed with his finger. "Would you like something bigger inside of you?"

"Yes!" Avon did his best to spread his legs. "Please!"

Blake slipped his fingers out, and rubbed more salve onto his erection. He pressed the head of his cock against Avon's hole and slowly pushed in, moaning softly. "Tell me if I hurt you."

Avon panted and gripped his own cock. In full mating frenzy he probably wouldn't notice if someone cut off a tailfin. He moaned and tried to hold still, to let Blake get in.

Blake shoved in the rest of the way and paused, panting softly and gripping Avon's hip. "You feel... so good..." He began rocking his hips.

"Ahhh..." Avon began pulling at his cock. It was the same, and it was all different. It was all hot and full of rubbing, not cool and slippery, but it felt so good. He moaned louder and tried to push back onto Blake every time Blake pulled out.

Blake panted softly in Avon's ear, his hips moving faster. "You're lovely. Hot and tight. Perfect." He ran his hand across to Avon's belly. "After you've come, I'm going to lick you clean."

Avon cried out as he realized what Blake was saying. He'd never tasted milt... not his own or anyone else's, as it dispersed into the ocean too quickly to catch. He clamped down on the hot thickness filling his vent, and poured his milt out in hot rushes over his hand and onto the cloth of Blake's bed.

Blake buried his face against Avon's shoulder, cried out, and came. "Avon!"

Avon breathed, "Roj," and relaxed, feeling oddly as if he were floating.

Blake slipped out of Avon, then took his hand and licked the come from his fingers. Avon opened his eyes and smiled at Blake. 

Blake smiled. "Are you all right?"

"Yes." Avon reached out to touch Blake's face. "I will sing about it."

"I'm glad." Blake kissed Avon's fingers.

Avon smiled. "But I won't say where to find you, or your nets would be full of mers."

Blake laughed. "Don't worry. You'll be the only merperson for me."

"Good." Avon put his arms around Blake and kissed him.

Blake stroked Avon's hair. "I think you'll be well enough to go back in about a week."  
   
"Oh, yes." Avon  wasn't sure what a week was, but it was a nice, long-sounding word. 

"You're wonderful." Blake kissed him.

Avon smiled, and played with Blake's hair, then he scratched at the bandage again.

"Don't do that." Blake brushed away Avon's hand. "Does it hurt?"

"No." Avon peeled up an edge of the bandage. "It itches." New skin had covered the wound, pink and smooth, slightly transparent and shiny.

Blake blinked in surprise. "It's healed."  
   
"It took long enough." Avon poked at the skin experimentally. Maybe he was getting old.

"Do all of your people heal so quickly?"

"Quickly?" Avon blinked. "Well, yes, I suppose so."

"It takes much longer for humans to heal." Blake slipped a few fingers under the bandage and stroked the new skin.  
   
Avon filed away the information. "Maybe you need to swim more." Avon grinned. "I'd let you ride on my back."

Blake smiled. "Perhaps.-- You'll stay for dinner, wouldn't you?

"You said I could." Avon looked at Blake. "You said I could stay for days."

"Well... yes. Yes, I did. And I meant it. -- You mean, you want to?"  
   
"Yes." Avon tilted his head and smiled. "You're very interesting, Roj. I like you."

"Thank you. I like you too." Blake slid his hand up Avon's thigh to cup his balls.

Avon sighed and opened his legs slightly. "Mmm... that's very pleasant." He slit his eyes and hummed. It was not a true mer song; you couldn't do that with this body's feeble lung structure and vocal cords, but it had something of the rhythm of one. "If you don't mind being on top all the time, we could mate in the water, too."

"That would be quite different from what I'm used to." Blake grinned up at Avon. "I still want to taste you."

Avon smiled back and licked a little come from the palm of his own hand. "I'm salty."

"Yes, you are." Blake wrapped his hand around the base of Avon's cock, leaned over, and licked the head.  
   
Avon ran his fingers through Blake's hair. "Could we do it again?" 

"Have sex? Of course." Blake took the head into his mouth and sucked on it gently.  
   
"No wonder there are so many of you." Avon sighed and settled onto his back. Blake laved the head of Avon's cock, then probed the tip with his tongue. "Ahhh... yes..." Avon began kneading Blake's shoulders. "You're very good; it's all that practise."  Blake took more of Avon into his mouth and hummed.

Avon played with Blake's ears. He was interested to discover that the little flap that sealed his external ear when he submerged wasn't movable on Blake. He felt a vague sense of pity that Blake would never be able to play with dolphins. Even out of mer mating season, one could have fun with a male dolphin.

Blake began to suck harder, stroking and rubbing the bits of Avon that weren't in his mouth. 

Avon moaned and suppressed the impulse to flap. Blake slipped his free hand between Avon's thighs and stroked the area just behind his balls. Avon gave up suppression and flapped wildly, moaning.

Blake looked up at Avon, slightly worried, and made a soft, enquiring sound. Was Avon all right?  
   
Avon moaned a little more, then realized Blake had stopped. He looked down. "That's... we can't do that... swimming... you know..." Avon gave up trying to explain why the motion of two mers swimming would keep them from sucking each other's cocks, and tugged on Blake's hair. "Please... it's very,very good."

Blake whuffed softly, took more of Avon into his mouth and resumed sucking. He also pushed a finger inside of Avon's body.

"Ahhh..." For once Avon's curiosity had shut down, and all he was thinking was 'more!'. He dug his fingers into Blake's hair and rocked his hips. Blake hummed loudly and briskly rubbed Avon's prostate. Avon gave off a high-pitched yelp, and clutched Blake's hair in a death-grip as orgasm struck again.

Blake winced at the pain, but quickly gulped down the come flooding his mouth. It was very salty; just the way he expected a merman to taste.

After a moment, Avon came back to his senses enough to relax his hands. Several curly strands were captured in his fingers when he did. "I've hurt you!" Avon was mortified. 

Blake released Avon's cock, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up. "I'm all right.-- Avon? What's wrong?"  
   
"I've pulled out your hair. Your lovely hair." Avon looked at the hair, and large, salty tears rolled down his cheeks.

Blake ran his hands through his hair, then looked at Avon's hand. "Oh, no! Avon, it's all right. It's only a few strands. It's nothing." He scrambled up next to Avon and hugged him.

"My eyes are wet." Avon touched his face in surprise.

"They're called tears. That usually happens when someone is very upset." Blake wiped away the tears. "It is all right, you know. Hair grows back. And it was only a few strands."

"Yes, but..." Avon started to calculate. "If we can mate all the time, and I do that to you each time, you'll be bald!" Avon looked horrified.

Blake bit his lip to keep from laughing. "Avon, you won't do that to me each time. And while we'll mate quite often, we will need to eat and sleep and do other things."

"Oh. Well... if you're sure." Avon carefully picked off the hairs curled around his fingers. "May I keep these?"

Blake blinked. "If you like."

"Thank you." Avon braided the hairs together, and then knotted them into a ring.

Blake kissed him, and snuggled close.  "You're welcome."

Avon put the ring on his little finger and admired it. Then he kissed Blake.

Blake said, "You're beautiful."

"Am I?" Avon was pleased. He always thought his land-form unbearably clumsy.

"You're perfect." Blake stroked Avon's hair.  
   
Avon smiled again. "I'm also hungry, aren't you?"

"Oh, yes! Why don't I start on that swordfish."  
   
"Start?" Avon looked at Blake, puzzled.

"Yes. I have the perfect seasoning for it."

"Seasoning?" Avon sat up. "Does that mean we have to wait a... season for it?"  
   
Blake stared at Avon for a moment, then he realized why Avon was so confused. "Oh, no! No, humans... we use heat and herbs to prepare fish and meat."

"Heat? You lay it in the sun?" Avon wrinkled his nose. "I've found fish on rocks in the sun. I think I would rather not have it... prepared."  
   
Blake laughed. "No, we use fire. You'll love it, I promise." He got out of bed and began to dress.

"Fire?" Avon watched Blake closely. He wanted to be sure he knew how those tricky bits worked, for future reference.

"Yes. Have you ever seen fire?"  
   
"Perhaps... but I don't know the word, so I'm not sure."

"Well, once you see it, you'll know." Blake went to the kitchen and got a cleaver and a long gutting knife. "Now, it's important that you don't touch the fire. It hurts."

Avon nodded. He admired Blake's knife. It looked much sharper and stronger than Avon's bone knife.

Blake used the cleaver to cut off the head and tail of the swordfish, then in one quick movement, gutted the fish.  
   
Yes, much sharper than his bone-knife. Avon wondered if Blake could show him how to make a knife like that.

Blake began deboning the fish. They'd have fish-steaks tonight; the rest would be packed away for later. "What do your people usually eat? Other than fish, I mean."  
   
"Octopi, kelp, sea cucumber... oh, it depends on what's available. Lizards, sea snakes... have to be careful, quite a few are poisonous, tortoise, plants that I don't know the human names... if they have human names... sometimes we'll visit islands and get birds' eggs." 

"Really? Do your people spend much time out of water?" Blake worked quickly, and soon he had two thick steaks.

"A day... maybe two... after that... it itches." Avon touched his thigh where the new skin was now almost indistinguishable from the rest, as the word 'itch' reminded him how it felt while healing. "No one has tried to stay out longer than that, so I don't know if we could."

Blake mixed a few herbs and spices in a bowl, then rubbed the mixture onto the steaks. He said softly, "Ah, so you'll be leaving soon, then."

Avon tilted his head, trying to understand why Blake was rubbing small bits of vegetation on perfectly good fish that might as well be eaten now. "I could. Or I could swim for an hour and come back."

Blake let the fish sit while he prepared a rice pilaf and steamed carrots. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want..." He smiled. "I'd like that."

 "There's so much to learn here. I would never be bored." Avon smiled at Blake. "And I like you."

"I like you too." Blake turned on the top burner of the stove. "That's fire."

"It's pretty." Avon studied it. "It's not alive, is it?"

"Not really. But fire can be potentially dangerous."

Avon moved a little closer to the fire and sniffed. There was an odd smell. He'd noticed it about people's homes before.

"Careful." Blake put the steamed carrots and the rice on the stove.

As Avon drew closer, he noticed the fire was giving off heat. "It's hot! What is it? A piece of the sun?" He knelt and looked at the stove. "How did you catch it?"

Blake turned on the other burners and smiled. "No, it's not a piece of the sun. Humans learned to create fire long ago."

 "Create? How?" Avon tilted his head. It didn't look like a 'made thing'.

"It's complicated. But you need something to burn, like gas or wood, and friction."  
   
"Ah.. it's not alive, but it eats? And friction?" Avon  was having a hard time with all these strange concepts. It was exciting, having so many new things to learn.

Blake grinned. "You do know what I mean by friction?"

"I'm not sure." Avon moved closer to Blake. He thought he had an idea. "Perhaps you could show me?"

Blake took Avon's hand and rubbed it. "Like that."

"Ah..."  Avon smiled. "So is this dangerous?" He pressed himself against Blake's fully clothed body.

Blake smiled. "Very dangerous." He kissed Avon's nose. "Now don't distract me. If I don't eat, I may faint."

Avon grinned, and moved a little further away. He was curious about the rest of the room as well. It was full of interesting things. He tugged on a round metal object, curious to know how it was fastened to a piece of wood, and the wood moved, sliding out to reveal a group of interesting little objects, mostly made of wood and metal.

Blake put the steaks on a grill pan and watched Avon. "Are you having fun?"

"Yes." Avon contentedly compared objects, sorting them out in rows. Rounded end things, pronged things, and knives. So many knives!

Blake chuckled, walked over to Avon and kissed the back of his neck. "I'm glad."  
   
Avon leaned slightly against Blake and tried another metal bit, revealing another treasure-trove. This was even more varied than the other one. Two knives ingeniously fastened at the middle fascinated Avon. He picked it up and tried to see how it could be used.

"Careful, love. I don't want you to hurt yourself." Blake returned to the grill and turned over the steaks.

Avon returned the twin-bladed serrated knives to the place he found them, and investigated further. Loops of pale tan that felt something like fish gut, but dry. They stretched. Interesting, but seemingly useless. Thin bits of white ...leaves?... but very regularly shaped for leaves. Some of them had markings, black, mostly, but some were blue. He turned one over and was astonished to see the shape of a fish at the bottom of a lot of black markings. Well, it was not as if there was really a fish on the leaf, but certainly it looked like a fish. He took the leaf to Blake. "What's this, Roj?"

"Ah, that's my grocery list - foods to buy." Blake pointed to the words at the top. "See, that says 'milk'."

 "Your females produce so much milk they sell it?" Avon  was astonished.

Blake laughed until he had trouble breathing. "No, no. There are certain animals we breed that produce milk for us."

"Ah." Avon looked at the 'leaf' again. "And these markings have meaning? All of them?" He pointed to the fish. "What does that mean?"

"Oh, that. That's just a drawing. A picture." Blake smiled "And yes, all those markings have meanings."

Avon was just as interested in the picture as the markings. "Could you teach me how to do this?"

"Of course. It's not that difficult once you've grasped the basics." Blake took the steaks off the grill and put them on plates.

Avon realized this skill wouldn't be any use in the ocean, but sometimes he forgot things... he hated that... if he could make markings that would help him remember important things, he could leave them under a rock on an island somewhere. Avon sniffed as his stomach reminded him of something more immediate, if not more important. "The fish smells good." 

"I'm glad you think so." Blake turned off the rice and the carrots, dishing out a generous serving for each of them, and placed the plates on the table. He retrieved a spoon for Avon and a fork for himself. "It's ready.'  
   
"It's very pretty." Avon admired the colors arranged on the plates. "Do we eat now?"

"Yes." Blake sat at the table and picked up his fork. "But be careful, it's hot."  
   
Avon studied the thing Blake handed him, and watched how Blake used his tool. It took a few tries, but Avon balanced a bit of fish on it and brought it to his mouth. "It's very good." 

"I'm glad you think so. -- I suppose merpeople eat everything raw."

"Raw? I never heard of a fish called 'raw'." The fish slipped off the rounded utensil and landed on the mound of white shreds. Avon frowned at it. He had a suspicion that if he picked up a handful of food, Roj wouldn't like it.

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean, you eat it without preparation. Without heat or fire."

"Oh, well, then yes, we eat our food raw." Avon tried to capture one of the small orange logs against the edge of the plate. It leapt up and rolled off the table. He was beginning to be exasperated. "At least ours only has to be caught once."  
   
Blake laughed. "If it's cool enough, why don't you use your fingers?"

"Thank you!" Avon rolled part of a filet around a mound of the other food items and got it to his mouth. "Mmm..."  
   
Blake said softly, "This is nice. I haven't cooked for someone in a long time."  
   
"You should have someone." Avon looked at Blake seriously. "Perhaps you don't want to live in a large school of humans, but if your kind is meant to school, being all alone can't be good for you."  
   
"But I'm not alone. You're here."

"Yes." Avon smiled at Blake. 

Blake reached out and stroked Avon's hand. "I'm very glad you're here." Avon grinned, and used his other hand to eat more fish. Blake also continued to eat, still stroking and squeezing Avon's hand. Once he was not held back by balancing problems, Avon quickly finished all the food on his plate. 

Blake finished eating and said, "What would you like to do now?"  
   
"Learn to make those marks?"

'All right. One moment." Blake quickly cleared the table. Then he retrieved a pencil and a few sheets of paper and sat next to Avon. "Would you like to learn how to write your name?"

"Yes." Avon leaned close to Blake to better watch what he did. "Will it have a fish in it?" 

"No, no fish." Blake slowly wrote Avon's name at the top of the paper in large letters.

"That's all? I'm much bigger than that." Avon was mildly disappointed. He took the writing stick and began trying to copy the marks below it, memorizing the pattern the way he memorized the position of the stars at night.

Blake smiled. "Well, it's just supposed to symbolize you. So anyone who sees those markings will know that's your name. And if they've met you before, they conjure up your image with their imagination."

Avon nodded; when he thought of star patterns, he remembered how the ocean was beneath them- the temperature, and what sort of fish it usually had. "Show me the pattern for your name."

"All right." Blake took the pencil and wrote his name. 'See, that's me."  
   
"Why is there a space between?" Avon looked at it closer. Two of the subpatterns looked very like two in his name. He traced the matching ones with a finger of each hand.

"Because I have two names. Roj and Blake." 

"Two names? Was that an accident? Did your mother give you one and one of your aunts another?"

"No, most humans have two names. The second name is our family name. It's how we trace our ancestry."

"Oh." Avon thought a moment. "Why is that important?"  
   
"Family is very important to humans. Power and wealth are passed on through family. Family is also the place you go when you need help."

"And they wouldn't know you were in their family if you didn't have two names? Do humans look that much alike?" 

Blake grinned. "No, no, we don't. But we also like other people to know where we came from."

Avon blinked and filed it away under 'too complicated at the moment.' He had brought Blake's grocery list to the table and began copying the pattern of the first item, 'Milk'. Avon looked at it and pointed to the 'L'. Then he said, 'Roj' and pointed to the matching letter in the divided pattern Blake wrote.

"Yes, that's the same. But you have to remember, all the markings together is my name."

"Yes, but... how? How do sounds become marks?" Avon frowned down at the paper. "Avon sounds longer than Blake, why is it shorter in marks?"

"The marks are called 'letters.' And each letter has a sound." Blake pointed to the 'r.' "This letter has a 'rrr' sound."

"R..." Avon committed that to memory. He looked at the letters he had so far, and carefully copied some of them down on the paper in jumbled order. RALVOK. "What does that sound like?"

Blake slowly slid his finger under the letters as he pronounced the new 'word'. "Ralvok."

Avon was pleased with his accomplishment. "How many different letters are there?"

 "There are twenty-six different letters. Would you like me to write them all for you?"  
   
"Yes. And tell me the sounds as you do, please." Avon thought this was a wonderful game.

"All right." Blake pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and slowly wrote out the alphabet, sounding out the letters.

Avon was very pleased indeed with his new toy, and used up several sheets of paper writing what he thought were words. "HOWS... That's house! And PEPEL is people, and BOWT is boat, and..."

Blake laughed. "That's very good, Avon. You don't have it quite right, but people will be able to read your marks. And that's what is important."

Avon kissed Blake in a fit of enthusiam. "K.I.S. is kiss." 

Blake couldn't find it in his heart to correct Avon. "Very good, love." He returned Avon's kiss.

"Love. L.O.V.E." Avon held Blake's face between his hands and kissed him again. Blake pulled Avon onto his lap and ran his hands over Avon's body. Avon squirmed slightly and began opening buttons on Blake's shirt. He was much better at it this time.

Blake sighed and ran his hands up Avon's thighs. "You're lovely. Beautiful. My A.V.O.N. Avon."  
   
Avon grinned and opened Blake's trousers, putting his hands in to pet and stroke. "You're beautiful, too, Roj."

Blake moaned and gripped Avon's cock  "I'll miss you when you go."

"I'll be back." Avon stroked Blake's cock more firmly. "I'll always come back."

Blake began to stroke Avon's cock, rubbing the tip with his thumb. "Do you promise?"

"Yes. I promise." Avon moaned and moved, gripping Blake's thighs with his legs. "I would have, without the promise." 

Blake pulled Avon's head down for a kiss, gripped his cock even tighter and stroked faster.  
   
Avon moaned and rode Blake's thighs, keeping just enough space between them so he could pump Blake's cock.

Blake wrapped his free arm around Avon's waist, pumping his cock, and moaning. Avon rocked against Blake, groaning. For a moment, he was almost sorry he was a mer.

Blake looked up at Avon, smiled, and with a startled cry, came.

Avon watched Blake's face for a few seconds, memorizing the look of startled delight, and then wailed out his own pleasure. 

Blake released Avon's cock and took a shaky breath. "Beautiful."

Avon put his hands on Blake's shoulders and gave him a brief kiss. He was breathing too heavily for anything more than that.

Blake smiled and ran his hands over Avon's thighs. "Bed?"

Avon nodded. "I want to hold you."

Blake patted Avon on the arse. "I want that too."  
   
Avon got up, releasing Blake's shoulders, and went to the bed. Briefly he wondered how it was made, and how it could be both soft and strong enough to support his weight, but perhaps he'd asked enough questions for now. He sank into the mattress and sighed.

Blake stood and shakily walked over to the bed and climbed in. He wrapped his arms around Avon and nuzzled his hair.

Avon rolled slightly to get more comfortable, put his arms around Blake's waist and closed his eyes.

Blake also closed his eyes and stroked Avon's hip. "Tired, love?"

"Mmm..." Avon's fingers moved lazily over Blake's skin in small circles. "Sleep for a little while..." He nuzzled Blake's neck. "And then you can tell me how beds are made."

Blake smiled. "Yes..." he said, and then began snoring softly.

Avon curled up around Blake, feeling oddly safe, as if nothing could hurt him within the circle of Blake's arms. He let out a long, soft sigh and began dreaming.


End file.
